The shape of the new European Parliament will emerge in part from the realignment of political groups. Some parties spoke of switching to another group even before the elections took place, but most of the changes will be worked out over the coming weeks.

The Spanish Unión, Progreso y Democracia party, with its four MEPs, is interested in joining the liberal ALDE group. During the last term, the party's one MEP, Francisco Sosa Wagner, sat as an independent in the Parliament because of the presence of Catalan and Basque nationalists within ALDE.

Crin Antonescu, chairman of the Romanian National Liberal Party (PNL), wants the party's four MEPs to leave ALDE and join the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP). However Antonescu is set to resign, so the party may not act on his wishes.

The Flemish N-VA party, which increased its seats from one to four, is likely to leave the European Free Alliance of separatist parties - currently allied with the Green group. It is expected that they will switch to the ECR group, of which the British conservatives and the Polish Law and Justice Party (PiS) make up the largest part. Belgian Green MEPs have long complained about a lack of group loyalty from the N-VA.

The Italian Northern League, which has lost four seats and will have five MEPs, may leave Nigel Farage's eurosceptic bloc, Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD), to join a new far-right alliance being crafted by Marine Le Pen. The Finnish anti-immigration party The Finns is also likely to leave the EFD, possibly to join the ECR.

The new parties that have been elected will have to decide which group – if any - to join. Most are unlikely to join the established groups, and will be wooed by the EFD, the ECR, the far-left GUE group or Marine Le Pen's new alliance. Alternative fur Deutschland (seven seats), Greece’s Independent Greeks (one seat) and the Polish Congress of the New Right (four seats) could join any of these groups.

The big prize however will be Beppe Grillo's new Five Star Movement in Italy, which won 17 seats. Grillo has given no indication of what group his party will join, if any.